What Blocks My Connection to God?

If God is always present… why don’t I always feel connected?

For a long time, I assumed the problem was that God had become distant.

Today, I see it differently.

I don’t believe God moves away from us.

I think we become distracted from what has always been there.

The more I’ve reflected on this, the more I’ve realized that the greatest barriers aren’t usually outside of us.

They’re within us.

Fear

If I had to name one thing that blocks our awareness of God more than anything else, it would be fear.

Fear tells us we’re alone.

Fear tells us we’re not enough.

Fear convinces us that we have to control everything because no one else can be trusted.

Fear narrows our vision.

It keeps us focused on survival instead of love.

One of the reasons I believe love is the opposite of fear is because love opens us.

Fear closes us.

Constant Noise

We live in a world that never stops talking.

Notifications.

News.

Social media.

Podcasts.

Television.

Advertisements.

Everyone wants our attention.

Very few things encourage silence.

I’ve discovered that it’s incredibly difficult to hear a quiet voice in a room that’s always loud.

Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do isn’t speak more.

It’s become still.

Pride

Pride isn’t always thinking you’re better than someone else.

Sometimes pride is believing you already know everything you need to know.

Growth begins when we’re willing to admit,

“Maybe there’s still something I haven’t seen.”

Humility creates room for learning.

And I believe it creates room for God.

Unforgiveness

Few things weigh down the human heart like carrying resentment.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean pretending something painful never happened.

It doesn’t excuse injustice.

But refusing to let bitterness become our identity creates space for healing.

Sometimes the person most imprisoned by unforgiveness is the one holding onto it.

Living on Autopilot

One of the ideas I explore throughout my work is The Other 95%—the observation that much of our daily life is shaped by habits, routines, and patterns we rarely stop to examine.

We wake up.

Go to work.

Scroll.

Eat.

Sleep.

Repeat.

Days become months.

Months become years.

When life becomes automatic, it’s easy to lose touch with what matters most.

Awareness is often the first step back.

Looking Everywhere Except Within

For years, I searched for answers in books.

Teachers.

Videos.

Conversations.

There was value in all of those things.

But eventually I realized something.

Every teacher can point.

No teacher can walk your path for you.

Jesus spoke often about the Kingdom of God.

Different Christians understand those passages in different ways.

As I’ve reflected on them, I’ve become increasingly convinced that our spiritual journey isn’t only about looking outward.

It’s also about allowing our inner life to be transformed.

That realization changed the way I pray.

It changed the way I read Scripture.

It changed the way I live.

Believing You Have to Earn God’s Love

One of the heaviest burdens people carry is the belief that they must become perfect before God will love them.

I don’t believe love works that way.

Growth matters.

Repentance matters.

How we live matters.

But I don’t believe God waits for us to become flawless before inviting us into relationship.

If that were true, none of us would ever begin.

My Perspective

The older I get, the less I think the spiritual journey is about finding God somewhere far away.

I think it’s about removing the things that keep us from recognizing what has been present all along.

Fear.

Distraction.

Pride.

Constant busyness.

The need to always be right.

The inability to be still.

When those begin to fade, something remarkable happens.

Not because God suddenly arrives.

But because we finally become quiet enough to notice.

Final Thoughts

If you feel disconnected from God today, don’t immediately assume God has left you.

Instead, gently ask yourself:

What’s occupying my attention?

What’s filling my mind every day?

What fear am I holding onto?

When was the last time I spent time in silence?

Am I seeking answers… or simply seeking confirmation of what I already believe?

Those questions changed my life.

I don’t believe our connection with God is strengthened by having every answer.

I believe it’s strengthened by becoming more honest.

More humble.

More loving.

More present.

Because perhaps the greatest obstacle between us and God isn’t that God is hiding.

Perhaps it’s that we’ve become so distracted by everything else that we’ve forgotten to look where the deepest transformation begins.

Within.